Quench Your Own Thirst: Business Lessons Learned over a Beer or Two

Founder of The Boston Beer Company, brewer of Samuel Adams Boston Lager, and a key catalyst of the American craft beer revolution, Jim Koch offers his unique perspective when it comes to business, beer, and turning your passion into a successful company or career.

The Brewer's Tale: A History of the World According to Beer

The Brewer's Tale is a beer-filled journey into the past: the story of brewers gone by and one brave writer's quest to bring them - and their ancient, forgotten beers - back to life, one taste at a time. This is the story of the world according to beer, a toast to flavors born of necessity and place - in Belgian monasteries, rundown farmhouses, and the basement nanobrewery next door. So pull up a barstool and raise a glass to 5,000 years of fermented magic.

Beyond the Pale: The Story of Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

Beyond the Pale chronicles Ken Grossman's journey from hobbyist homebrewer to owner of Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., one of the most successful craft breweries in the United States. From youthful adventures to pioneering craft brewer, Ken Grossman shares the trials and tribulations of building a brewery that produces more than 800,000 barrels of beer a year while maintaining its commitment to using the finest ingredients available. Since Grossman founded Sierra Nevada in 1980, part of a growing beer revolution in America, critics have proclaimed his beer to be "among the best brewed anywhere in the world."

Brewing Up a Business: Adventures in Beer from the Founder of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Revised and Updated

Starting with nothing more than a home brewing kit, Sam Calagione turned his entrepreneurial dream into a foamy reality in the form of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, one of America's best and fastest-growing craft breweries. In this newly updated Second Edition, Calagione offers a deeper real-world look at entrepreneurship and what it takes to operate and grow a successful business. In several new chapters, he discusses Dogfish's most innovative marketing ideas.

Dethroning the King: The Hostile Takeover of Anheuser-Busch, an American Icon

How did InBev, a Belgian company controlled by Brazilians, take over one of America's most beloved brands after barely a whimper of a fight? With timing - and some unexpected help from powerful members of the Busch dynasty, the very family that had run the company for more than a century. From the very heart of America's heartland to the European continent to Brazil, Dethroning the King is the ultimate corporate caper and a fascinating case study that's both wide-reaching and profound.

Hops and Glory

The original India Pale Ale was pure gold in a glass; a beer specially invented, in the 19th century, to travel halfway around the world and arrive in perfect condition for a cold drink on an Indian verandah. But although you can still buy beers with 'IPA' on the label they are a pale imitation of the original. For the first time in 140 years, a keg of Burton IPA has been brewed with the original recipe for a voyage to India by canal and tall ship, and the man carrying it is Pete Brown, Britain's best beer writer.

Beer School: Bottling Success at the Brooklyn Brewery

Is this a book for beer aficionados or business enthusiasts? Both, and it's as refreshing as a cold brew. In Beer School, authors and entrepreneurs Steve Hindy and Tom Potter share the improbable saga of Brooklyn Brewery, the company they grew from a home-brew hobby into a multimillion-dollar business - all in the most competitive beer market in the United States.

Business for Punks: Break All the Rules - the Brewdog Way

After spending seven years on the high seas of the North Atlantic, James Watt started BrewDog craft brewery in Scotland with his best friend, Martin Dickie. They didn't have a business plan, just a mission to revolutionize beer drinking and make other people as passionate about craft beer as they are. Within a few years, BrewDog became one of the world's best-known craft breweries and fastest-growing beverage brands, famous for beers, bars, and crowdfunding.

So You Want to Start a Brewery?: The Lagunitas Story

So You Want to Start a Brewery? is the first-person account of Tony Magee's gut-wrenching challenges and heart-warming successes in founding Lagunitas Brewing Company. In just 20 years, the company has grown from a seat-of-the-pants, one-man operation to be the fifth largest--and the fastest growing--craft brewer in the United States.

Brewmaster's Art

With origins 8,000 years in the past, beer brewing has held a prominent place in many and diverse cultures the world over. A university professor with more than 30 years' experience in the brewing industry, Professor Charles W. Bamforth is ideally suited to lead these engaging lectures on beermaking.

The United States of Beer: A Freewheeling History of the All-American Drink

Huckelbridge shows how beer has evolved along with the country - from a local and regional product (once upon a time, every American city had its own brewery and iconic beer brand) to the rise of global megabrands, like Budweiser and Miller, that are synonymous with US capitalism. We learn of George Washington's failed attempt to brew beer at Mount Vernon with molasses instead of barley and of the 19th-century "beer barons", like Captain Frederick Pabst, Adolphus Busch, and Joseph Schlitz.

Bourbon Empire: The Past and Future of America's Whiskey

Unraveling the many myths and misconceptions surrounding America's most iconic spirit, Bourbon Empire traces a history that spans frontier rebellion, Gilded Age corruption, and the magic of Madison Avenue. Whiskey has profoundly influenced America's political, economic, and cultural destiny, just as those same factors have inspired the evolution and unique flavor of the whiskey itself.

Beer is Proof that God Loves Us: Reaching for the Soul of Beer and Brewing

Legendary beer expert Charlie Bamforth presents the most compelling social history of beer ever written: where it's come from, and where its headed. From centuries-old cultural values to radical new approaches, craft brewing to globalization, it's an amazing story. Bamforth tells it all with humor, behind-the-scenes insight, and sheer joy!

Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike

In this candid and riveting memoir, for the first time ever, Nike founder and CEO Phil Knight shares the inside story of the company's early days as an intrepid start-up and its evolution into one of the world's most iconic, game-changing, and profitable brands.

Wild Company: The Untold Story of Banana Republic

With $1,500 and no business experience, Mel and Patricia Ziegler turned a wild idea into a company that would become the international retail colossus Banana Republic. Reimagining military surplus as safari and expedition wear, the former journalist and artist created a world that captured the zeitgeist for a generation and spoke to the creativity, adventure, and independence in everyone.

99: Stories of the Game

From minor-hockey phenomenon to Hall of Fame sensation, Wayne Gretzky rewrote the record books, his accomplishments becoming the stuff of legend. Dubbed "The Great One", he is considered by many to be the greatest hockey player who ever lived. No one has seen more of the game than he has - but he has never discussed in depth just what it was he saw.

Short Course in Beer: An Introduction to Tasting and Talking About the World's Most Civilized Beverage

Straightforward and opinionated, Short Course in Beer is designed to turn the novice beer lover into an expert imbiber and the casual drinker into an enthusiast. Readers will come to understand the beauty of beer and the sources of its flavor, as well as learn which beers are worth our time and which are not. With tongue in cheek, the author examines beer's historical connections to the Crusades, the Hundred Years' War, and modern-day soccer riots. He talks frankly (and joyfully) about the effects of alcohol on the body and brain, he defends beer from its enemies, and ushers it out of the frat house and into the dining room.

Lucky Bastard: My Life, My Dad, and the Things I'm Not Allowed to Say on TV

Sports fans see Joe Buck everywhere: broadcasting one of the biggest games in the NFL every week, calling the World Series every year, announcing the Super Bowl every three years. They know his father, Jack Buck, is a broadcasting legend and that he was beloved in his adopted hometown of St. Louis. Yet they have no idea who Joe really is. Or how he got here. In Lucky Bastard, Joe takes the listener into the broadcast booth and into his childhood home. Hilarious and occasionally heartbreaking, this is a book that any sports fan will love.

brianrainstorm says:"I thought you were the guy in Midnight Cowboy..."

Call Me Ted

An innovative entrepreneur, outspoken nonconformist, and groundbreaking philanthropist, Ted Turner is truly a living legend, and now, for the first time, he reveals his personal story. From his difficult childhood to the successful launch of his media empire to the catastrophic AOL/Time Warner deal, Turner spares no details or feelings and takes the reader along on a wild and sometimes bumpy ride.

The Man Who Knew: The Life and Times of Alan Greenspan

Sebastian Mallaby's magisterial biography of Alan Greenspan, the product of over five years of research based on untrammeled access to his subject and his closest professional and personal intimates, brings into vivid focus the mysterious point where the government and the economy meet. To understand Greenspan's story is to see the economic and political landscape of the last 30 years - and the presidency, from Reagan to George W. Bush - in a whole new light.

Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built

In just a decade and a half, Jack Ma, a man from modest beginnings who started out as an English teacher, founded Alibaba and built it into one of the world's largest companies, an e-commerce empire on which hundreds of millions of Chinese consumers depend. Alibaba's $25 billion IPO in 2014 was the largest global IPO ever. A Rockefeller of his age who is courted by CEOs and presidents around the world, Jack is an icon for China's booming private sector.

Sons of Wichita: How the Koch Brothers Became America's Most Powerful and Private Dynasty

Like the Rockefellers and the Kennedys, the Kochs are one of the most influential dynasties of the modern age, but they have never been the subject of a major biography... until now. Not long after the death of his father, Charles Koch, then in his early 30s, discovered a letter the family patriarch had written to his sons. "You will receive what now seems to be a large sum of money," Fred Koch cautioned. "It may either be a blessing or a curse."

Brazillionaires

When Bloomberg News invited the young American journalist Alex Cuadros to report on Brazil's emerging class of billionaires at the height of the historic Brazilian boom, he was poised to cover two of the biggest business stories of our time: how the giants of the developing world were triumphantly taking their place at the center of global capitalism and how wealth inequality was changing societies everywhere.

The Opposite of Woe: My Life in Beer and Politics

In just over a decade, John Hickenlooper has gone from a craft-brew entrepreneur to mayor of Denver to governor of Colorado, hailed by many political analysts, The New York Times, and Fox News alike as a solid contender to be the next vice president. It is an unlikely tale of success, quintessentially American yet utterly exceptional. In The Opposite of Woe, Hickenlooper tells his own story of determination and daring, from business to politics, in his singularly sharp and often hilarious voice.

Publisher's Summary

The engrossing, often scandalous saga of one of the wealthiest, longest-lasting, and most colorful family dynasties in the history of American commerce - a cautionary tale about prosperity, profligacy, hubris, and the blessings and dark consequences of success.

From countless bar signs, stadium scoreboards, magazine ads, TV commercials, and roadside billboards, the name Budweiser has been burned into the American consciousness as the "King of Beers". Over a span of more than a century, the company behind it, Anheuser-Busch, has attained legendary status. A jewel of the American Industrial Revolution, in the hands of its founders - the sometimes reckless and always boisterous Busch family of St. Louis, Missouri - it grew into one of the most fearsome marketing machines in modern times. In Bitter Brew, critically acclaimed journalist Knoedelseder paints a fascinating portrait of immense wealth and power accompanied by a barrelful of scandal, heartbreak, tragedy, and untimely death.

This engrossing, vivid narrative captures the Busch saga through five generations. At the same time, it weaves a broader story of American progress and decline over the past 150 years. It's a cautionary tale of prosperity, hubris, and loss.

This is a great story detailing the blood sweat and tears associated with building and ultimately losing one of America iconic companies / brands. I have lived in St. Louis for nearly 4 years now and this story has given me an entirely new perspective on the big brewery and the family that built it. I would reccomend this book to almost anyone who has an interest in history, business or even general drama.

Would you consider the audio edition of Bitter Brew to be better than the print version?

I have not read the print version of Bitter Brew but there is a great PDF attached to the download for pics and charts.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The Forth is my favorite as he is leaving an incredible path of death and destruction in his wake.

Have you listened to any of Peter Berkrot’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, but I do plan to listen to his other books in the future.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

It was broken into 3 parts, and I finished it in less than a week as I found it very interesting. I think they should make it into a TV mini series.

Any additional comments?

I live in St. Louis so the book is a must read for people living in the Lou, but people from other places will enjoy the book if they have ever drank a beer or wondered what rich people do when they have no morals or common sense.

I enjoyed the book, though the beginning was a little slow. Like a biography, the book started at the beginning with establishing the family. It was a necessary inclusion for this particular family that was so intertwined with the corporation, but it was still a little slow starting off. The rest was great.

I'm more of a wino than a beer drinker, but this is a really interesting story. It's extremely well written and well narrated. I would highly recommend this audio book to anyone interested in the history of American business. Informative and entertaining at the same time.

What made the experience of listening to Bitter Brew the most enjoyable?

This history of Anheuser-Busch is fascinating, the wealth, the power and the disfunction. A very well-written, page turning history lesson. One character is more fascinating than the next. I am waiting for someone to do a cable series on this family.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Most of the characters were flawed and that made the story more compelling.

What does Peter Berkrot bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Peter Berkrot is an excellent narrator. Doesn't get in the way of the story, no over-acting.

It was a fascinating look into the lives of the Busch family. Amazing story.

Who was your favorite character and why?

August IV

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Amazement - All the money in the world won't buy you happiness.

Any additional comments?

This is a must listen book. If you are from St. Louis or in the business world, you have to listen to this story. It was very well done, listens very easily and will shock you with all its ups and downs.

I think that this book would appeal to everyone. I hesitate to say I'm a St. Louisan because you don't have to be a local (or a beer drinker) to be facinated by this story! AB was huge nationally as well as locally but as a St. Louisan, it really is a sad story about a tragic family and the loss of another major business to foreign investors. It's another example of truth being more compelling than fiction!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes! I binged on it!

Any additional comments?

Whose job is it to research the pronunciation of local place names? There were several errors.

I worked at A-B for several years and can attest first-hand to the Busch family cult of personality described in "Bitter Brew." If anything, I found it to be even more palpable and all-consuming in the corporate culture than what is described in the book.

The decades-long story that unfolds is fascinating in a way akin to reading about a royal family -- the aspirations, the battles, the treacheries, the grudges, and the grooming of heirs are all the same.

In this way, I see the whole thing as less a cautionary tale of cutthroat capitalism, than a tragic account of fatal and flawed family dynamics.

My only complaint is that Knoedelseder's telling is more plain and flatly journalistic than the vivid subject matter deserved, and in the end could've benefitted from more descriptive analysis into the meaning of it all.